


Oplatek

by SociallyAwkwardFox (Maze_Runner_Fae)



Series: 25 Days of Sterekmas [24]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-25
Updated: 2014-12-25
Packaged: 2018-03-03 10:10:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2847230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maze_Runner_Fae/pseuds/SociallyAwkwardFox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles decides to bring back a Polish tradition he stopped doing after his mom died.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oplatek

Stiles wasn’t really sure if he believed in God. The questioning started after Stiles’s mother got sick when he was eight and only increased in intensity once she passed. Then the Hale fire happened and Stiles started to wonder why God would let bad things happen to such innocent people. After the nogitsune incident, Stiles was convinced that even if there was a God he couldn’t possibly be as merciful as people made him out to be. A part of Stiles hoped that there wasn’t a God because no god would be able to forgive Stiles for the things he had done while trapped inside his own body.

Despite all of this, Stiles still celebrated Christmas every damn year. He didn’t do it because he enjoyed giving and receiving presents or got swept up in all the holiday spirit that everyone always talked about. He did it because his mother had absolutely adored Christmas and everything that came with it: presents, decorating, spending time with family. She always spent the entire month of December making sure Stiles and John felt completely immersed in the winter wonderland she was creating.

His favorite thing was never opening presents on Christmas morning; it was Wigilia or more specifically the breaking of the oplatek before Wigilia. Typically Wigilia was spent with the extended family and the hosting couple would break the first oplatek together, but it had only ever been Claudia, John, and Stiles so the three would break it together. Claudia and John would kiss after breaking the wafer then Claudia would sweep Stiles up into her arms with a laugh. That tradition always reminded Stiles of how happy and full of life his mom had always been.

After Claudia Stilinski died, the Stilinski men stopped doing all of the holiday traditions she had worked so hard to establish in their household. The first year it had been because the two men were so busy trying to deal with their grief that they hadn’t felt like celebrating. Every year after that Sheriff Stilinski worked on Christmas Eve and he would always tell Stiles that he would try to make it back to the house before midnight on Christmas. Most of the times he wouldn’t make it on time or would come back completely exhausted and not in the mood to celebrate.

This year Stiles was determined that things would go differently than they had the past ten years. It was Stiles’s first year away at college and over the summer he had moved in with Derek so this year would be his first chance to host a Christmas party like an adult. So well over a month before Christmas he sent out invitations to his friends and family inviting them to Wigilia at his house on Christmas Eve. Stiles had been more than a little bit elated when everyone had agreed to come. Derek had even laughed at the little happy dance he did after the last yes came through.

Now things were going a little bit differently. Instead of being insanely excited for the evening, Stiles was absolutely freaking out. There was so much he had to do and so little time for him to do it in. Derek had tried to help Stiles in the kitchen but after Stiles yelled at him for not washing a measuring cup once he was finished using it Derek decided it would be better to get away from Hurricane Stiles before he made things worse. So Derek sat back and listened to Stiles bustling around the kitchen all afternoon from what he deemed a safe distance.

* * *

 

“Okay I think I have everything. Let’s go over the list one more time.”

“Stiles.” Derek took Stiles’s face into his hands then forced the younger man to look at him. “Everything looks and smells wonderful. Even if you don’t have everything on your list people will love it. You need to take a deep breath and calm down.”

“But it has to be perfect.”

“The holidays never turn out perfect. The only reason we remember them as being perfect is because we put aside the faults and appreciate the fact we spent the day with people we love.”

Stiles let out a strangled gasp and threw his arms around Derek’s neck. “You’re right. So very right. I’m being ridiculous aren’t I?”

“No. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make things perfect.”

“It’s been so long since I’ve done this. I guess I’m just a little nervous. Besides my dad none of the rest of you are Polish and I don’t want to make any of you feel weirded out or uncomfortable.”

“I’m sure no one will feel that way. It’s not like you’re asking them to get naked and dance around the fire.”

“I thought it was my job to be the funny one.” Stiles picked his head up from Derek’s neck so he could rest their foreheads together. “I don’t want to let my mom down. She was the one who insisted that always insisted we keep in touch with our roots and it was always just the three of us. I want to bring that back.”

“You are. You might not be able to see it yet but you are.”

“And you’re okay with it? Because I know you must have had your own family traditions that you want to bring back and we never really talked about it. I just told you about this and when you agreed I started planning everything out without even bothering to consider what you might want which makes me a really shitty person and terrible boyfriend.”

“Breathe. My family didn’t really do anything special. Christmas Eve we would have dinner then sit around in the living room drinking hot chocolate and watching Christmas movies. Christmas day we had breakfast then opened all the presents then spent the reach of the day lazing around until dinner. No special tradition.”

“We can do hot chocolate and Christmas movies. That is completely doable.”

Derek chuckled and tilted his head to the side so he could give Stiles a chaste kiss. “Alright. After everyone leaves hot chocolate and Christmas movies.”

“You know we could always make our own tradition.”

“And what tradition would that be?”

“Staying up until midnight watching movies and drinking hot chocolate then opening all of our gifts like impatient four years that can’t wake up their parents after the first try.”

“I think we could do that.”

“This is why I’m the smart one.”

“I thought you were the funny one.”

“Both. I’m both.”

* * *

 

Everyone was sitting around the table waiting for Derek to bring in the last of the food because he had forbid Stiles from doing any more than he already had. Stiles was drumming his fingers nervously on his thigh while Melissa was trying to talk to him as a distraction that obviously wasn’t working. The other people at the table were all engaging in pleasant conversation all though it didn’t escape their attention that their normally talkative host wasn’t saying a word. Stiles could feel his heart rate skyrocket when Derek finally placed the last dish on the table then looked at Stiles expectantly.

Stiles stood up shakily and had to clear his throat several times before he managed to start talking. “Thanks everyone for coming tonight. I know some of you probably have stuff you normally do on Christmas Eve so I'm glad you decided to come anyways. I know my dad and I are the only ones who are Polish so I suppose I should explain. Tonight is called Wigilia and before we eat you're supposed to break the oplatek which is the wafer you each have one your plate. Traditionally the host couple is supposed to break the oplatek first then everyone else follows."

"Stiles come on." Stiles nearly jumped at the sound of Derek's voice in his ear then realised he had waited a touch too long.

"Right sorry."

Stiles picked the oplatek off of his plate then held the end out to Derek who took it gently between his fingertips. The two glanced at each other for a second before starting to bend the little wafer in half until it snapped. Everyone else at the table started to break their cookies in half while Stiles and Derek ate their own. When everyone had finished breaking the oplatek, Derek leaned over to place a chaste kiss to Stiles's lips.

"What was that for?"

"You said your mom and dad always kissed after breaking the oplatek. I'm just continuing tradition."

"I love tradition."


End file.
